WASHINGTON — A panel of health policy experts Tuesday told congressional staff members and policy professionals that, while health care reform could play a powerful role in reducing health disparities between minorities and Whites, major policy reform in areas such as housing, transportation, agriculture and labor will also prove necessary to close the health care gap.
“We need multiple strategies across a variety of sectors. These are not just problems for public health; these are problems for the housing sector, the transportation sector and others,” said Dr. Brian Smedley, vice president and director of the Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
Speaking before an audience of nearly 100 attendees, Smedley joined other health policy panelists at the “Beyond Health Care Reform: Health & Equity in All Policies” discussion at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The Disparity Reducing Advance (DRA) Project and the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust convened the discussion, which included remarks from Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen, D-V.I., a physician and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust.
In addition to Smedley and Christensen, Larry Cohen, executive director of the Prevention Institute, and Adolph Falcon, senior vice president of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, served as discussion panelists.
